Debunking The Five Second Rule

Related Tags:

In my mind, it’s one of the most important “medical rules” in existence: the “five-second rule.”

An unwritten law dictating that if a food or other consumable item is dropped onto the floor, it may be picked up and eaten within five seconds. The reasoning behind this is that dirt and germs take six seconds to transfer from one surface to another. Think about it. I’ve got this great piece of pizza, or an ice cream cone … and plop … down it goes. If I’ve got quick hands and a quick mind, I’m good to go, right?

Wrong.

People have actually done research on this thinking, (which, I’m not kidding you, dates back to the days of Genghis Khan), and the results of actual scientific research says the clock has run out on this so-called rule. Obviously, every floor, every surface is different. Each has different numbers and different types of germs.